


R.E.M

by getfuckedmodest



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Banter, Bottomlouis, Humour, M/M, Topharry, harrystyles, heartbrokenlouis, larrybanter, larryfluff - Freeform, larryisreal, larryshortstory, larrysmut, larrystylinson, liampayne, louis can see harry in his dreams, louistomlinson - Freeform, niallhoran - Freeform, onedirection, side Ziam, zaynmalik
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-10-15 13:52:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17529917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/getfuckedmodest/pseuds/getfuckedmodest
Summary: "You can't always be sleeping, Louis. It's not healthy," Liam said softly, face scrunched up with worry."It's the only way I can see him."OR,The one where Louis meets the love of his life but can only see him in his dreams.





	1. Chapter 1

Louis used to be such an out-going and fun loving person, but he just felt empty. His boyfriend of two years had just left him, with no explanation and Louis was just confused. He had just wasted two years of his life loving the wrong person, so what was he doing? He was out drinking and partying.

"Fuck, you're so hot," A man informed smirking mischievously as he tried to wrap an arm around Louis' small waist. He didn't even care that someone was trying to touch him, besides letting out a small giggle and swaying his hips to the beat of the music.

"Thanks, Matty!" Louis let out a hiccup, turning around in the man's arms to face him. The unidentified man let his hand travel down to grab a hold of Louis' ass. The smaller boy was really out of it, his sight almost completely blurry.

During the course of the relationship with his now ex, Matthew, he was never allowed to go out or do things like this. Louis was always kept on a leash, unable to do the things that other people had the chance to so now that he could, he was taking full advantage.

Louis loved the attention, he felt like he needed it.  He had put his all in a two year relationship that didn't even work out well, he had loved Matthew with all his entire being and he was just thrown away like nothing. He was craving to be needed.

"Listen, it's not cool. He's obviously way too drunk to consent to anything that must be going through your sick head so why don't you just leave him be?" Louis could faintly see a second person standing close by to them, but in Louis' drunk state all he couldn't see faces or make them out very clearly.

"He's fine," The man that was holding onto Louis shot back.

"He just called you by someone else' name, he has no idea what's happening," The other person argued. Louis felt himself being pulled away from a tight embrace, mumbling incoherently about something, "Let me help you out."

Louis knew he was being pulled away from the dance floors but the room was spinning too quickly due to the alcohol. He was helped onto a stood at the bar and Louis whined when he realised he wasn't dancing anymore.

"I want to go back," Louis said with a pout. He faintly heard what sounded like a scoff to the right of where he was sitting. He was too intoxicated to look over, his brain all fuzzy and not as reactive as it had been previous to drinking.

"Water for my very intoxicated friend here, thank you," The man requested from the stood situated next to Louis'. The smaller boy heard a reply from the bartender before he watched through hooded eyes a glass of water being placed in front of himself.

"I'm fin-"

"Please drink it, it'll make you feel better and then I can help you find your friends," The man offered. Louis took the glass in his hands, beginning to sip on the cold water, "It won't sober you up straight away but it will help enough to help you walk a little better or see better at least."

"Okay," Louis hiccuped then gave a bright smile, downing the water quickly. The smaller boy then turned around on his stool and grinned, "Look, my friends!"

And without another word, Louis jumped off the stool to walk in a different direction, leaving the kind stranger who helped him at the bar.

"Louis, I think you should slow down," Liam informed with furrowed eyebrows when Louis had made his way over to their booth and taken the whisky bottle in one hand to scull. The smaller boy rolled his eyes, taking a big mouthful.

"Let him live, babe," Zayn piped up from the where he sat. Louis gave him a thankful smile. They were both his best friends but Zayn had always made sure that his boyfriend didn't baby him. Liam shot his boyfriend a look then turned back to stare at Louis.

"You're actually swaying on your feet," Liam pointed out with the shake of his head.

"Yeah, I'm dancing," Louis shot back taking another mouthful.

"No, you're just really drunk," Liam stated before sighing, "I know you haven't slept in a couple of days either so how about I take you home so you can do just that?"

"Sleep can fuck off and so can you if you're just going to keep babying me," Louis snapped darkly, suddenly becoming more sober. Probably due to Liam's serious tone. The smaller boy knew he must look like an utter mess but he didn't care. He was trying to numb himself, trying to avoid feeling what he truly was inside. Zayn moved a hand onto his boyfriend's shoulder and let out a sigh.

"We're just trying to look out for you, Lou," Zayn said before giving the smaller boy a soft smile, "Let's have a few more drinks and then we'll go home."

"Cheers to that," Louis smiled wickedly. Liam narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend and best friend but grabbed his drink from the round that they had ordered earlier before Louis ran off and moved the glass to hold it against Louis'.

"To new beginnings," Liam agreed before all three friends clinked their drinks together. Liam's drink being water while Zayn and Louis' were alcohol. Louis finished his drink first,  almost falling backwards but Zayn quickly steadied him with a hand.

"Yeah, okay, it's time to go home," Zayn let out a laugh at the sight of his intoxicated friend. He was definitely worried but he knew Louis. The smaller boy liked to play off sadness or anything related to the subject with laughter and Zayn certainly didn't want to be the one to make the boy cry.

"I don't want to," Louis whined with a pout but he had no say in the matter when Zayn practically carried him outside of the club and towards the car, "You smell so good, Zaynie."

"Thanks Louis, you smell... well you kind of smell pretty gross right now if I'm going to be honest," Zayn admitted chuckling as he helped the smaller boy into the car, "But it's okay, babe, you're just not one hundred percent right now, are you?"

"Sit in the back and cuddle me," Louis mumbled as Zayn tried to buckle his seatbelt around his waist. Liam let out a scoff when he watched Zayn climb in next to Louis.

"So I'll be driving with no one in the passenger seat like I'm some taxi driver?" Liam raised his eyebrows, jumping into the driver's seat and putting the keys into the ignition.

"I love you and all but shut up and drive," Zayn informed as Louis tucked himself into Zayn's side, cuddling into him. Zayn wrapped an arm around him and smiled, "That's right, Lou. get comfy."

Louis was really out of it, eyes becoming really heavy. He knew he just needed to lie down and he was truly thankful for his best friends. Especially Zayn who was now combing his fingers through his hair.

"We'll be at yours soon, Lou, just go to sleep. We'll carry you in," Louis heard Zayn whisper quietly to him. Louis closed his eyes and moved to lean more into the dark haired boy's touch, allowing him to lull him into sleep.  
  
  


_Louis hummed to himself as he finished washing up the last of the dishes in his sink, thankfully there hadn't been too many dishes to clean due to his living alone. He almost jumped when he heard a knock at his front door, not expecting anyone at this time of night. The only logically person coming to mind was the old man who lived down the hall who always tried to pawn off his belongings to all the neighbours._

_Louis wiped his wet hands on the track suit pants he was wearing to dry them before making his way to the front of his apartment, looking into the mirror quickly to check if he looked somewhat decent and not like he had been crying for months. He then sighed and placed his hand on the door handle. Here we go._

_"Sorry, I'm not interested in anything you're selling," Louis informed as he opened the door, expecting to see some middle aged man trying to make him purchase stuff. Instead, Louis was greeted by a boy who looked around his own age._

_"So you're not wanting this new neighbourly greeting I was about to present to you?" His voice was deep and smooth, captivating. Louis' eyes widened at his words, face flushed in embarrassment._

_"I'm so sorry, I just thought... Never mind, you're the one who just moved across the hall right?" Louis questioned curiously. The boy gave him a soft smile and nodded his head._

_"Sure am," He then held out a hand to Louis to shake, "I'm Harry."_

_"Well, I'm Louis," The smaller boy shook Harry's hand. He was much taller than Louis, it honestly made him more attractive than he was before, if that was even possible._

_"Nice to meet you, Louis," Harry smiled brightly. Louis looked down at their hands that were still entwined, then looked back at the boy causing Harry to drop their hands, "Shit, sorry, I just wanted to  say hello and be all neighbourly so you don't report me when I have massive parties."_

_"Are you going to have any massive parties?" Louis raised his eyebrow._

_"Probably not," Harry admitted sheepishly, "I have a cat and sometimes she gets a little wild."_

_Louis giggled which only made Harry smile wider. It felt good to laugh, even if it was something so silly and ridiculous. It was just a twinge of happiness in a world of darkness for Louis. Just a complete stranger giving him a moment of calm from all the crying and screaming._

_"Maybe we should keep her on a leash."_

_"Good idea," Harry laughed brightly, "Feel free to come over to help me keep her in check."_

_"Will do, Harry," Louis replied, smile not leaving his face.  Harry gave him a little wave before turning to walk across the hall to enter his own apartment. Louis stood there for a moment to just stare at the now closed door. He then shook his head, closing his own door._

_Louis looked over at the clock that was on the wall of his kitchen causing him to furrow his eyebrows. The arrows on the clock were not moving and the numbers seemed somewhat jumbled. No matter how many times, Louis squinted at it or rubbed at his eyes, the clock remained in the same condition._

_"That's weird.." Louis muttered to himself. He made himself a mental note to get rid of the clock and get a new one the next morning. Rubbing at his eyes, the small boy walked through his tiny apartment to his bedroom, pushing the covers back. Louis snuggled into his pillows once he climbed in, beginning to feel sleep washing over him._   
  


"Louis, babe, wake up."

Louis opened his eyes, rubbing at them and groaning when his head began to throb in pain. The curtains to his small bedroom had been pulled back and was now successfully blinding him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Drink this," Louis looked to the side of his bed to see Zayn holding out a cup of what looked to be coffee to him. The smaller boy took it quickly, blowing on it to cool it down before taking a mouthful of the hangover killer.

"I feel like absolute shit," Louis complained causing Zayn to laugh. The dark haired boy then laid down onto the covers of Louis' bed.

"You don't look too flash either, babes," Zayn informed before smiling, "You seemed to be having quite some dream though. You were moving all over the place, looked like the fucking exorcist."

"Always a pleasure in the mornings, aren't you?" Louis shot back rolling his eyes at his best friend who was now cuddling into his pillows, "It was so weird. The dream just felt so real, like it really happened."

"You were pretty fucked up last night, Lou," Zayn stated nonchalantly, "You're bound to have some weird dreams in that state. Now get your fat ass up, you're buying me breakfast."

Louis watched as his best friend rolled out of his bed and made his way out of the bedroom. Shaking his head at Zayn's silly antics before climbing out of his bed, dream completely forgotten, no idea that it was only the first of many to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you would like me to continue this :)

_"I swear to god, I'll pay next time," Zayn informed, putting his hands up in surrender. Louis rolled his eyes before shaking his head at his best friend. This was a promise that Zayn would always say and never keep. He was used to it by now._

_"No, you won't," Louis replied.  It was like an everyday occurrence, Zayn would appear at his doorstep and ask to go out for breakfast and without fail, Louis would pay for the whole thing. The smaller boy didn't mind though, it was their thing._

_"Okay, I probably won't but I'll think about it," Zayn noted before giving the smaller boy one of his signature smirks.  It was just one of the things he's done since they were in their early teens when they met in the crowded high school hallways._

_Louis reached into his pockets to get the key to his apartment, moving to unlock the door before turning to face Zayn, "Are you going to come in today?"_

_"Sorry but I have to go to work, Lou," Zayn informed sincerely before smiling cheekily, "I just came to get breakfast."_

_"Of course you did, you freeloader," Louis teased. Zayn stuck his tongue out playfully in retaliation. The smaller boy pushed the door to his apartment open, then leaned on the doorway to face his friend._

_"Well, thanks, anyway," Zayn said beginning to walk backwards to the elevator that would lead outside, "I'll be back the same time tomorrow for the same thing."_

_"See you then, bitch," Louis shot back. Zayn flipped him off then turned around when the elevator door had opened._

_"Toodles, motherfucker," Zayn retorted stepping into the lift. Louis rolled his eyes as the doors to the elevator closed the lift when downstairs. He was forever grateful for Zayn and their dysfunctional friendship._

_Louis made his way into his apartment, closing the door behind himself.  It was when he was alone with his own thoughts that he struggled the most. That was when there were no distractions or diversions that pulled him away from the actual problems that were at hand._

_Louis was battling hard with heartbreak. It sounded pathetic but to him, it almost felt like the end of the world sleeping in an apartment that he never really used to stay in, due to normally always sleeping at Matthew's place because of it supposedly being way nicer there than Louis' apartment._

_Louis would prefer to just drink or smoke to soothe any dark thoughts that even dared try to plague his mind. He couldn't help but feel like it was his fault that Matt had left him, Louis just blamed himself._

_Louis shrugged off his jumper and put it on the arm of his couch. He made his way over to his kitchen fill up a glass of water. Louis practically leapt into the air when there was a knock on the door._

_"What does Zayn want from me now?" Louis muttered to himself. Zayn was forgetful and often accidentally left things in Louis'apartment in the early morning before they left for breakfast._

_Louis made his way over to his door, getting his infamous bitch face ready for Zayn for when he opened up the door but once the door opened, Louis saw that it wasn't his forgetful friend._

_"Harry, is everything alright?"  Louis questioned curiously.  He took in Harry's appearance, newly showered due to his hair looking freshly washed. To Louis, he was almost model-like._

_The curly haired boy nodded his head, grinning softly, "I know this might sound like the typical neighbourly thing but I was wondering if I could borrow some sugar?"_

_Louis' lips instantly curved into a smile. It felt so good to smile, even if it was over such a trivial thing._

_"You should really update that shopping list," Louis informed playfully._

_"Dorito, who is my cat that gets out of hand is always in charge of the shopping list, unfortunately," Harry let a faux sad smile fall on his lips._

_"First of all, her name is Dorito?" Louis asked raising his eyebrows, "Second of all, was she always in charge of the list or did you just really mess up one time and you had to hand over the responsibility?"_

_"Dorito's are delicious so, yes," Harry agreed before shrugging nonchalantly, "She's always been bossy so as soon as I forgot to grab the batteries for the TV remote, she took over."_

_"That's fair enough, you got to get those priorities in order," Louis agreed, "Speaking of priorities, I'll go get you that sugar."_

_"Or you could just join me for a coffee at my place?" Harry suggested.  Louis cocked his eyebrow at this, an amused smile making its way onto his face._

_"I thought you had no sugar."_

_"Okay, maybe it was an excuse to knock on your door to talk to you," Harry admitted scratching the back of his head nervously, "Worked, didn't it?"_

_"I suppose it did," Louis shot back trying his absolute hardest to grin. It felt good having someone want to speak to him. It had been a while since Louis felt like someone apart from Zayn and Liam appreciated his company._

_"Is that a yes?" Harry wondered, unsure of what Louis' answer was going to be. The smaller boy looked over at his clock that was on the wall, the arrows still not moving and the numbers looking like gibberish, similar to the night before._

_"Are you okay, Louis?" Harry inquired snapping Louis out of the gaze he was holding towards his clock. Louis nodded his head and sent Harry a smile._

_"Absolutely, let's go," Louis instructed stepping out of his apartment and locking the door, despite the fact that they were just moving across the hall. There were always a lot of break-ins in the neighbourhood and it was always smart to just be safe._

_"Just let me find the key," Harry laughed to himself, his hands fumbling through his pockets before he finally got them and Harry pushed the door to his place open and allowed Louis to step inside. It was exactly like Louis' apartment, except there were boxes everywhere._

_"Mind the mess,  Dorito had a party last night," Harry joked causing Louis to let out a laugh, "However, mi casa es su casa."_

_"You're quite the joking one, aren't you?" Louis bantered. Harry shrugged his shoulders._

_"I used to be a super serious person, got my heart broken so I decided to never let shit get to me anymore," Harry admitted before smiling,_ _"_ _Enough of that, do you take milk in your coffee?"_

_"Yes, please," Louis said politely. Harry moved over to the kitchen, turning the kettle on before grabbing out some milk from the fridge that was close by._

_"You probably don't need sugar, you're already sweet enough," Harry said, smirking cheekily._

_"Oh, he flirts too!" Louis exclaimed, his tone playful. Harry winked at him, "I'll  take two sugars please."_

_"Coming right away, your majesty," Harry shot back as continued to get Louis' coffee ready. Once Harry had, he moved over to hand it over to Louis who reached it gratefully with a small smile._

_"Are you from around here?" Louis questioned. Harry shook his head, taking a sip of the coffee that he had assembled for himself._

_"I'm originally from Holmes Chapel but decided I need a change and moved here," Harry answered with a shrug.  Louis nodded, taking a sip himself, "And you? Did you grow up here or are you just a foreigner like myself?"_

_"I grew up around here," Louis replied with a soft smile, "You'll like it here."_

_"It certainly has great company," Harry said smirking cheekily.  Louis rolled his eyes at Harry's attempt at flirting. He would be lying if he said he didn't love it._

_"I suppose it does," Louis agreed with a light laugh._

_"So, do you normally let strange take you to their apartments?" Harry asked teasingly._

_"Do you normally invite strangers into your apartment?" Louis retorted with an eyebrow raised. Harry narrowed his eyes at the smaller boy._

_"Touche," Harry noted._

_"So, tell me about yourself," Louis informed before taking a sip of his coffee, which was really good by the way._

_"Well, I'm_ _a_ _twenty-three-year-old Aquarius that likes long walks on the beach," Harry told him. Louis raised his eyebrows._

_"Really?"_

_"No, sand just gets every_ _where_ _, doesn't it?" Harry said with a shudder. Louis rolled his eyes at the boy. it was easy to see that Harry was just goofy and that he obviously enjoyed making light of every conversation._

_Louis took notice of a clock that was situated on the kitchen wall. He took notice of the fact that just like the clock that was in his apartment, the numbers looked like pure jibberish._

_"You wouldn't happen to have the time, would you?" Louis questioned. Harry looked behind to stare at the clock that Louis had been looking at._

_"It's 10:43 in the morning," Harry answered before glancing back at Louis. The smaller boy found it weird that Harry had no trouble reading the time. Harry took note of Louis' facial expression, full of confusion, "Are you alright?"_

_"Yeah, of course," Louis reassured, fake smile on his lips. He was confused. Was he slowly going crazy, was that why the numbers on the lock just looked like a complete scribble? All he knew was that something wasn't completely right. What he didn't know was that it was just the beginning._

 

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know if you would like me to continue this xx


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